The difference between this play and the Brown play is that Brown was considered defenseless. Bernard was not considered defenseless because he became a "runner". The possible foul comes in if you felt that Shazier initiated contact with the crown of his helmet and it wasn't incidental. I've seen different people disagree about this.

I have to be vague about this but I was told that both Shazier and Joey Porter should have been given 15 yard penalties. Shazier is somewhat of a judgement call but the person I talked to felt it was pretty clear cut, he led with the crown of his helmet outside the tackle box and that's a penalty which should have overturned the fumble plus tacked on 15 yards. Porter was even more obvious. A coach was at midfield talking to opposing players. He should have been flagged immediately before Jones even had a chance to react. It's my understanding that both Shazier and Porter will be fined. The NFL only issues fines if something is or should have been called a penalty.

Adam Jones saying that Brown was acting is idiotic. You could see his eyes roll up in the replay. That hit was awful.

The issue that I have is that the Bengals penalties affected the outcome of that game as well a future games. The Steelers will be fined for their penalties with no effect on the outcome of any game.

And if Jeremy Hill hadn't fumbled we wouldn't be talking about this at all.

I think the Shazier hit was much much much dirtier than the Burfict hit. Shazier intentionally launched the crown of his helmet at Gio's head.

I really don't know how you can come to this conclusion after seeing both hits. As someone with no dog in this fight, the Burfict hit was worse. That being said, I can see how Bengal fans feel like something should have happened to Shazier too. But to say that the Shazier hit was much much much dirtier? Not even close.

Shazier's hit was stupid because he was putting himself and Bernard at risk, and is liable to break his own neck at some point if he doesn't fix it. And if it's a missed penalty because it was with the crown, and the hit happened outside the tackle box (I'm not a ref and sometimes don't know every detail of a rule), then I agree it should have been called.

However, let's also be a bit fair here. Shazier was trying to hit Bernard hard and drive him into the ground, but as he's driving straight for Gio, Bernard's momentum is still drifting right. Shazier's helmet ends up making contact with the bottom right of his facemask, but lands on his shoulder, even with Bernard drifting in that direction. The key is that Shazier wraps up Bernard on the tackle. You don't wrap someone up when you're going for a kill shot with your head. It was poor form on the tackle, and Bernard's injury was the direct result of Shazier's recklessness, but he was absolutely not head-hunting.

"I will never give a motivational speech to my players. If I have to motivate you, I will fire you."

I really don't know how you can come to this conclusion after seeing both hits. As someone with no dog in this fight, the Burfict hit was worse. That being said, I can see how Bengal fans feel like something should have happened to Shazier too. But to say that the Shazier hit was much much much dirtier? Not even close.

If AB doesn't fall, Burfict never hits him in the head. He doesn't go high, he doesn't lead with his helmet, he doesn't go for the kill shot. AB fell down into that. You expect Burfict, in a split second to realize AB didn't catch it and fell and avoid him? Please. Burfict hit him with his shoulder. It was a scary play, but if AB catches that or doesn't fall down, no one cares for a moment about that hit.

Shazier deliberately goes high, at Bernards head when there was no need to. He could have hit him in the chest or the waist and had the tackle. he was going for the kill by going high. He has plenty of time to lower himself and didn't. I 10000000% believe Shaziers hit was way dirtier.

If AB doesn't fall, Burfict never hits him in the head. He doesn't go high, he doesn't lead with his helmet, he doesn't go for the kill shot. AB fell down into that. You expect Burfict, in a split second to realize AB didn't catch it and fell and avoid him? Please. Burfict hit him with his shoulder. It was a scary play, but if AB catches that or doesn't fall down, no one cares for a moment about that hit.

Shazier deliberately goes high, at Bernards head when there was no need to. He could have hit him in the chest or the waist and had the tackle. he was going for the kill by going high. He has plenty of time to lower himself and didn't. I 10000000% believe Shaziers hit was way dirtier.

The difference between the two is that Bernard was an established runner while Brown didn't even make the catch and was still in a defenseless posture. Making an open field tackle is a lot harder than breaking up a pass. How many times do you see tacklers go low on a ball carrier only to be leaped over. How many times do you see tacklers go high on a ball carrier only to get trucked over. Shazier did what I was taught in HS - go THROUGH the ball carrier.